Please don't share this online

Kudos to Duetsche Telekom for this awesome exposé / ad highlighting the risks of social media, and how AI can affect us

Kudos to Duetsche Telekom for putting out such a compelling and informative ad. I hope everyone watches it. If you’ve ever reshared a photo, or posted anything online — on Facebook, Instagram, anywhere… this is for you.

It’s an amazing ad, and deeply meaningful. It highlights risks that we are all exposed to… every time we post. We need to recognize it’s not just kids. This kind of identity theft can happen to anyone. What you put on the internet is there forever. Do you trust your social media platform to protect you (most of them have been breached)? Do you trust your online financial institution to keep your data safe? Have you ever thought about having your genome scanned to build your family tree?

Most theft comes from social engineering. It’s not hackers tearing through Matrix-like firewalls. It’s people. Gathering a little bit of information — about you — here and there. Until they have enough pieces to put the puzzle together… and fake the rest.

Keep yourself safe. Be aware of what’s possible and be aware of what information you share.

You can read more about the ad on this Good Morning America article. There’s good discussion and more thought provoking background and advice.

What can you do if you’re worried about identity theft? Honestly it requires vigilance and it’s not always easy. Here are a few ideas:

• Do a security policy review on all your social media accounts.

• Close accounts you don’t use.

• Make sure you use 2FA (ideally not using a phone number but an actual authenticator).

• Don’t post media where it might “leak” (do you trust friends and family not to re-share?).

• Don’t reshare someone else’s media.

• Never ever reuse account passwords or account names.

• Get a “masked email” service that creates a unique email address for different accounts.

• Randomize your data. Does that service need your real birthdate or your high school? Use a password manager to keep track of the details.

• Be intentional — ask yourself, “do I want this to live on the web forever?”

You can learn more about the ad and agency behind it on The Drum.